Preview Tour of Oman 2026 - Yates, Kuss, Paret-Peintre, Plapp and Fortunato headline GC battle

From the 7th to the 11th of February the peloton takes on the Tour of Oman, the continuation of the Middle Eastern calendar, with a stage-race that features sprints, explosive days and steep mountains. We preview the race ahead.

Meanwhile the Tour of Oman has grown since its debut in 2010 into one of the most respected early-season stage races outside Europe. Organized by (ASO), the race became a regular fixture on the UCI calendar, first as part of the UCI Asia Tour and, more recently, in the UCI ProSeries—a status it retains in 2026. It is a traditional early-season race for many years now, chosen by the riders due to the warm weather conditions, variety of stage profiles and also proper climbing tests early in the year.

The race has a list of winners that is to say the least enviable. Fabian Cancellara won its first edition back in 2010, whilst over the years Chris Froome has used the race twice and won the overall classification - one against Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans; Vincenzo Nibali won it back in 2016 before conquering the Giro d'Italia; and other top riders such as Matteo Jorgenson and Adam Yates have now won the most recent editions in the 2020's. In 2025 Yates defended his title successfully, having consistency in the race's climbs to bring UAE a top victory.

The race starts off with an interesting stage, designed for the sprinters, but with a very steep ascent right at the start of the stage with almost 4 kilometers at 9%. The fast men are likely to be the ones that will take to the front however by the time the riders arrive to the Bimmah Sink Hole after 171 kilometers.

The second stage of the race is the one best suited to the puncheurs, and will provide an interesting challenge between them and the sprinters. The stage features some climbing late on after a flat start, with a climb of 3.7 kilometers at 8.8% ending with 41 kilometers to go.

Then two smaller ones, one of 1 kilometer at 8.5% which ends with a mere 14 kilometers to go, and the second coinciding with the finish. This will be in the Yitti Hills, a 1.8-kilometer long climb at 5.4%, however one where the first half has some much steeper gradients and will quickly take the riders to the limit.

Stage 3 of the race presents a solid mix between the puncheurs and the climbers when it comes to the fight for the stage win. It is, as the Spanish call, a 'unipuerto' stage, where you have got no climbing throughout the day, followed by a summit finish.

The climb of Eastern Mountain is 3.5 kilometers long at 7.6%, long enough that it is a rather constant effort, but nevertheless a mostly anaerobic effort where explosivity and the raw watts are also required. This will be an important day for the overall classification, even if the queen stage lies ahead.

Stage 4 of the race is the traditional 'desert run', a pan-flat stage, all by the sea, which presents no obstacles whatsoever to the sprinters. However, this does not mean it will be a relaxed day, as the riders are always prone to be exposed to strong winds and temperatures in this region.

The queen stage of the race, and another 'unipuerto' day. If the wind doesn't blow, the riders will go into the climb of Green Mountain very fresh and ready to deploy massive power outputs, as if they were doing a time trial.

The climb is 5.8 kilometers long at 10%, but even though this is a brutal description of it, the climb is made even harder by the fact that it's on an exposed desert road; and the for the fact that the road is incredibly wide, like a highway.

The riders will be incredibly exposed to the elements and resisting them will be just as important as having the legs in this W/Kg test, even more so because there will be no crowds cheering on the riders in its gruesome slopes which start off at 14% right from the very bottom.

*** Adam Yates, Sepp Kuss
** Valentin Paret-Peintre, Luke Plapp, Diego Pescador, Lorenzo Fortunato
* Pablo Torres, William Lecerf Junior, Chris Harper, Damien Howson, Bart Lemmen, Rémy Rochas, Einer Rubio, Christian Scaroni, Cristian Rodríguez, Mikkel Honoré, Paul Double, Mauro Schmid

Pick: Adam Yates